Area of Expertise:
Dr. Doug Bertram’s research interests include life history ecology and evolution, and conservation biology. From 1996-2001, he directed the seabird program for the Centre for Wildlife Ecology (CWE) at Simon Fraser University and focused on the populations on Triangle Island, the largest seabird colony in Western Canada. Coupling the recent and historical seabird data from Triangle Island to build a time series spanning 3 decades facilitated the examination of the consequences of ocean climate variation for reproduction and survival of several colonial marine bird populations. A major grant from the Nestucca Oil Spill Trust Fund allowed formation of a partnership between the Centre for Wildlife Ecology, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The DFO scientists established a ship sampling “cross shelf’ transect in the region of Triangle Island in 1998 which is ongoing.
He has also researched the population ecology of the Marbled Murrelet and focused on estimating population trends and determining their causes. Unlike most seabirds which nest on colonies, the Marbled Murrelet nests solitarily at very low densities in coast old growth forests, up to 50 km from the ocean. He is currently Marine Bird Conservation Biologist for Canadian Wildlife Service in the Pacific Region and Chair of Canadian Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team
Select Presentation(s) / Publication(s):
Peters, Willem; Robinson, Cliff; Kohfeld, Karen; Pellatt, Marlow; and Bertram, Douglas, “Extent of microplastics in Pacific Sand Lance burying habitat in the Salish Sea” (2018). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 422.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/422
Bertram, Douglas; Robinson, Cliff; Hennekes, M; Galbraith, M; Dangerfield, N; Gauthier, S; Woo, K;”Plastic ingestion by Pacific Sand Lance (Ammodytes personatus) in the Salish Sea.” (2016). Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. 71.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2016ssec/fate_and_effects_of_pollutants/71/
Bertram, Douglas & Harfenist, Anne & Cowen, Laura & Koch, Dean & C. Drever, Mark & Hipfner, Mark & Lemon, Moira. (2017). Latitudinal temperature-dependent variation in timing of prey availability can impact Pacific seabird populations in Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 95. 10.1139/cjz-2016-0197.
Bertram, Douglas & C Drever, Mark & K McAllister, Murdoch & K Schroeder, Bernard & J Lindsay, David & A Faust, Deborah. (2015). Estimation of Coast-Wide Population Trends of Marbled Murrelets in Canada Using a Bayesian Hierarchical Model. PloS one. 10. e0134891. 10.1371/journal.pone.0134891.
Arcese, Peter & norris, ryan & Blight, Louise & Wilson, Scott & Krebs, Elsie & Anderson, Eric & Bertram, Douglas & Hobson, Keith. (2014). A CENTURY OF CHANGE IN TROPHIC FEEDING LEVEL IN DIET SPECIALIST AND GENERALIST MARINE BIRDS OF THE SALISH SEA.
